


As I Began To Realize

by Angiestrangelittlecorner



Series: UNTITLED- MIRACULOUS 01 SERIES [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste Needs Help, Angst and Feels, Fashion & Couture, Fluff and Angst, Heavy Angst, Hot Mess Adrien Agreste, I Can't Believe I Wrote This, I Made Myself Cry, I'm Sorry, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, What Have I Done, so in love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-20
Updated: 2019-09-02
Packaged: 2020-09-18 19:51:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,368
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20318578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angiestrangelittlecorner/pseuds/Angiestrangelittlecorner
Summary: WARNING: IM SORRY THIS WILL GET VERY ANGSTY ITS JUST THE WAY I WORK I CAN'T NOT*****Each chapter's title is in relation to Adrien's feelings and thoughts but also something that is done by Marinette in that Chapter. They'll be in the notes of the first chapter.SUMMARY:Marinette seriously just cannot afford mistakes, so, naturally, there are so, so, so many. First, four of their models call in sick, thanks to the lovely flu going around, meaning they don’t have anyone to model for most of their women’s pieces. Then, Adrien’s bright idea to have Marinette model her own pieces gets approved by Gabriel, and, obviously, it all backfires spectacularly-on him.***This is set in the future, The character’s are 19 and 20-ish. it’s all messed up tho bc i can’t figure out timelines so whatever.





	1. Late

**Author's Note:**

> LATE- he’s realizing so late. He hopes it’s not too late. He knows he feels something but he doesn't understand. "I’m here. Wait for me."
> 
> WORRY- he worries about her. He doesn’t want to loose her. He can’t loose her. He wants the best for her. "But don’t forget about me, please. Just keep me close."
> 
> MELTING- He’s melting. Under her touch, under her gaze, at the sound of her voice. He wants to melt. "Touch me. Ruin me."
> 
> CUPCAKES- She’s sweet. Irresistible. He can’t keep his eyes off of her but he knows he shouldn’t touch. He can’t stop himself. "Please. I need-"
> 
> BLISS- He is so, so oblivious, even to his own feelings. At her touch he crumbles. He belongs to her, he would let her walk all over him and leave him broken. And he doesn’t even know. "What have you done?"
> 
> CHINA- Her skin is impossibly soft. Her eyes. Her lips. "A kiss, just a kiss. No harm in a kiss, right?"
> 
> \-----  
So i haven't figured it out all the chapters yet, but here are the first six chapter titles. Each part in quotations is supposed to be adrien's thoughts, basically, thoughts he doesn't know he's having, but AO3 doesn't let me italicize in the notes. darn shmarn.  
ANYWAYS thanks for choosing my fic! Hope it's not too intense. It's very angsty i'm sorry.

Marinette could not afford to have anything go wrong today.

The new Gabriel HERO™ Collection was going to launch in two days, and with the delay she’d experienced last week with the fit models, she’d only gotten Gabriel’s approval on the final designs three days ago, stayed up all night to do the flats and came in the next day, sleep deprived and sure she’d have a heart attack with the amount of caffeine she’d consumed.

The department had been a great help. Ellie had agreed to touch up some small errors Marinette had made will working on the flats at four in the morning, enlisting Jonah, who was a wizard with Illustrator, to help her.

Samantha was great with construction, she knew every single stitch, and Marinette was sure she’d invented at least twenty of her own. She could work fast without making any errors, all the while making the rounds and helping anyone and everyone.

Marinette oversaw everything. Technically, on paper, she was an Intern. But she had been working with Gabriel for three years now, and not even out of Fashion School yet. At seventeen she’d begun interning, still surprised she’d got it, though she suspected guiltily that Adrien Agreste may have had some influence over the matter once he’d congratulated her when she’d never told him in the first place. They barely even spoke. Every so often she had nights where she felt so bad, maybe taking some other more talented girl’s spot only because she had gone to school with the designer’s son, that she would cry and sob until she passed out from exhaustion. It didn’t help she heard it often.

She learned to ignore comments and overtime the public perception of her grew more positive as people began to see her designs once Gabriel became her Mentor and put her in charge of design for several collections. She knew people knew her name as she often accompanied Gabriel to shows, taking notes on the pieces but also making notes on every work that came from Gabriel’s mouth, but she didn’t want to be _too_ known. Even in fashion school, most of her classmates, obsessed with knowing everything about the fashion world, didn’t know who she was, just that she interned with Gabriel, perhaps. Marinette liked it that way. She wasn’t a big fan of too much attention. She preferred if she could wait until she graduated to make a name for herself.

Gabriel had admitted, in an awkward moment once two years ago, that he wasn’t overly sure as to why he decided to become a mentor to the baker’s daughter, but he remarked on the similarities he saw in his younger self and her.

She didn’t really believe him. She wasn’t sure she’d ever seen him smile, not once, even when she knew he was kind of proud of the work she was doing. Over the years she’d come to notice it wasn’t hard to read his expressions- okay, it was hard, just not impossible- once you’d spent enough time studying him. And Marinette took note of everything he did. Alya often wondered aloud how the designer wasn’t creeped out by her.

Marinette didn’t know how she could possibly be like Gabriel. He showed no emotion on most occasion, but she was the complete opposite. Another reason why the media often wondered what it was he saw in a seventeen-year-old intern. He knew her designing and construction skills from the competition she’d won three years prior, but that was really all he’d seen up until her portfolio, which she’d snuck onto one night before the leaving on what was supposed to be the last day of her internship. The eight days after that where she’d heard nothing had been the most depressing days of her life. Then she’d gotten a call from Nathalie, Gabriel’s assistant, asking her to come in, and she almost passed out. She’d cried so hard after that Alya had thought Marinette’s parents had died. Sometimes she wondered how Alya came up with the conclusions she did.

Everything afterwards hadn’t been smooth sailing, but it was all incredible. Every stressful task was worth it. She was being paid as an intern, since there weren’t technically any positions available at the time. There since had been some, but she didn’t dare ask for a raise. She liked being able to do everything without being confined to the title of “designer” or “dressmaker” or whatnot. She liked doing all of it. The customer service, the finances in accounting (she was terrible at it, but overly grateful), and obviously out of everything, the hands-on fashion was her favorite, but she was getting to experience working in every single aspect of one of the most successful Fashion Companies in the entire world, under the tutelage of Gabriel Agreste himself. She really didn’t think she deserved to be that lucky.

Of course, there were times where she’d broken down at two in the morning, struggling to finish an assignment while balancing school as well. Gabriel had the sort of connections where she was able to miss classes and take them at home thanks to a recording of the class, and while she utilized it, she didn’t really prefer it. She liked being in the class and learning hands on, in an environment electrified by the excitement of young adults itching to get out there and create art. She also knew she did tend to do the work for Gabriel before her studies, and it often resulted in stress and a rush the complete assignments and projects.

If she’d ever felt stress before, it was nothing in relation to the stress of the last two years. And even that was nothing in comparison to the stress of being late to a photo shoot that needed to be perfect because the entire goddamn collection would be public in two days and if she wasn’t ready, no amount of fondness Gabriel had come to feel for the girl would be able to save her job. This was a HUGE deal.

Her car pulled into her spot and she grabbed her things and breakfast for the crew. Next to her, Alya, who had taken the day off to help her best friend, took the trays and boxes from her hand and pushed her towards the entrance. “You’re already late girl, get out of here!”

“Thank you, thank you, thank you.” She pressed her hands together, blessing her friend for being so helpful, before rushing inside, hands full with the last pieces she’d finished last night before, thankfully, getting a good night’s sleep. She was glad the people from Vogue wouldn’t have to see her when she looked as if she’d been attacked by a bear and hit by a train. She didn’t want to wear makeup and risk the chance of feeling anything uncomfortable enough to distract her from her work.

She struggled with the door, grateful when she saw a glimpse of Adrien walking past inside from behind the garment bags covering her view. She knocked on the glass and the door opened a few seconds later.

“Thank ymph.” Her voice muffled behind the garment bags were met with a chuckle from Adrien as she felt the weight in her arms lessen a bit.

“Let me help you, Marinette, you look like you’ve got your hands full.” She gave him a blank look.

“That wasn’t even good. I don’t even know if that can be counted as a pun.” They were almost at the dressing station now, people rushed about, voices mixing as people rushed to prepare the stations and models. Chloe Bourgeois was the only superhero who had shared her identity, so, unfortunately, she would be modeling for the Queen Bee themed women’s pieces. Thankfully that was not until later.

“It can so be counted as a pun. But I’ll spare you because you’re so busy today. I’ll just have to write down my puns and attack you with them later.” She laughed softly, shaking her head as she gently let the bags rest on a table, hanging them up one by one as she took them out of the bags. Adrien’s eyes widened. “Oh wow. These are incredible Marinette. This is- wow.” He looked at her, his eyes sparking with…admiration? She wasn’t sure, but either way she didn’t understand his reaction. She was proud of her work, yes, but she hadn’t expected _Adrien_ of all people to be so impressed by them.

“Thank you.” She replied, ducking her head to hide her blush. No, she had work to do. _Focus, Marinette._

“So y-” She shushed him, placing a finger to his lips as he widened his eyes, face warming as he stared, cross-eyed at the finger on his lips.

“Nope, no talking. Let’s go, Hair and Makeup Chat Noir.” His face paled and he stammered and she raised a brow. “Adrien! Your father wants you as Chat Noir, so please don’t make me tell him you can’t do it and we have to find someone else because we _really_ don’t have the time and I _really_ don’t want to have that conversation with him.” He seemed to relax ever so slightly, the color returning to his face. Odd.

“Yeah, sorry, sure. I’ll go be Pat- I mean Chat!” He huffed in frustration and dragged a hand over his face tiredly, emerging with a weak smile that, despite getting over her crush ages ago, still sent her stomach into a frenzy. She pushed down the feeling and giggled. “Sorry, I’m tired.”

“We all are don’t worry. You’re just lucky it doesn’t show because this only can be done today. Now go before I kill you because I am very busy.” She scolded him and pushed him off as he tried to speak, hitting him with the papers in her hand. He laughed and stumbled out, turning to watch her walk back to her station, lost in her work, with a smile on his face.

As he turned to make his way to Hair and Makeup, he narrowly dogged Alya and she ran her way to Marinette, calling, “Hey, Blondie!” as she ran past.

“Who am I to you, Rapunzel?” He called back, eyes following her and landing back on Marinette, smiling with relief as her best friend arrived with food for the crew and Marinette’s purse. 

She’d really seemed to come into her own skin these last few years. For at least three years it was so hard for them to hang out. She was so awkward and stumbled over her words around him. Slowly it began to change and improve, and he found himself spending more time with her and his own mood began to improve as he did. He’d spent lots of time with her before, wearing the mask. He would steal her food and they would talk, laugh, play video games, board games. He loved watching her design and sketch. It was peaceful for him, hanging out with her as Chat Noir. It never was as Adrien. It bore down on him, kept him awake at night, not that he realized that until things changed, and he found himself able to hang out with her both in and out of costume. He realized how awful it was when he wasn’t sure if Marinette hated him or not. She was so different with him in his different personalities that he’d worried about it constantly, without even knowing it. It was all so confusing.

Looking at Marinette now, he felt a smile tug at his lips and a flutter in his heart.

She really was special. He couldn’t ask for a better friend. 


	2. WORRY

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He doesn't understand what she's doing to him. She's just a friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOOOOOOOohohohohohoho here we goooooooooooooooooooooooooooofsdfghsg

Adrien could not afford to have anything go wrong today. Not only because this was a HUGE collection for the Gabriel brand, but because this was an even HUGER deal for Marinette.

He could see her panic as she rushed past his station in hair and makeup and panicked a little inside himself. In the mirror, Loraine, his hairstylist since the age of 10, glared as he tried to turn his head.

“Adrien please stop moving I’m trying to hold your hair in place.” She huffed, fingers holding individual strands in place as the hairspray set.

He sat, trying to get a glimpse of his friend in the mirror. “Lorie, do you know what’s wrong? Marinette looks like she’s freaking out.” Loraine gave him an odd look he couldn’t decipher, shaking her head. A red streak fell from her bun and she puffed to blow it from her face.

“She’s just panicking because Juliette isn’t here yet and none of the backups can cover for her because they went to that stupid company party last night.”

“The one Marinette sent three emails about? Why would they go, she said so many times that we couldn’t afford any screw-ups!” He jerked in his chair, grinning sheepishly at Loraine as she gave him another impatient look. “Sorry.”

She sighed, her hands releasing the locks of blonde hair, mussing his hair so it appeared a little looser. “It’s alright. You can go after your girl, she looks like she might have a heart attack anyways.” She looked sideways at Marinette and back at Adrien, but he’d already started running to the dark-haired girl, dodging people as he tried to push his way through the stylists prepping outfits for shots to get to her.

Loraine smiled softly, shaking her head.

—

When Adrien had finally caught up to Marinette, she was impatiently arguing with someone over the phone.

“What do you mean no…you did WHAT? Alright, no, it’s fine I mean I only told you twenty times not to do anything but sleep for 8 hours these last two nights…no, no I’m not okay with this Jill. You three are not to show up here. Tell your agents to find work elsewhere. This is the fourth time you have done this! I told you we couldn’t afford any no-shows…oh you weren’t coming in anyways well that’s just…yeah fine okay…well, thanks. Thanks a bunch…thanks a lot.” She hung up with a huff and rubbed her fingers between her brows. “Crap.”

“Marinette? What’s wrong?” He asked, although he already knew. “I heard you arguing with someone over the phone.”

“Oh it’s nothing it’s just,” She growled under her breath, “Jill decided to take Bryan and Rosaline to the company party last night, and Rosaline hooked up with some girl and Bryan is in the hospital because he drove his car into a tree-he’s fine don’t worry. Nothing major he was just drunk. He’ll be out by the end of the day- and all three are ridiculously hungover and look like crap.” Adrien made a mental note not to anger Marinette. Ever. The look on her face was worse than anger. A disappointed Marinette could break a persons soul.

Adrien felt his heart stop as his stomach sank with dread. “Shoot.” Marinette nodded, pacing. “Wait hold on. So we still have Chloe, and me, and Charles. Johnathan used to do modeling before he did makeup, so he can cover for Bryan, and uhhh… Who were Jill and Rosa’s backups? We’ll call them.”

“Rosa _was_ Jill’s backup.” Marinette bit her bottom lip, brows knitting together. Adrien thought hard. Jill was supposed to Model the Ladybug women’s clothes. She was, next to him, the star of the collection. The only way to replace her would be to replace her with-

“Marinette!” The blue eyed girl jumped, shocked by his sudden outburst.

“Um, what?” Adrien rushed to her, taking her hands in his, eyes shining. Yes, this was perfect. Marinette was _perfect_. For the part.

“You! You can do it!” Marinette scrunched her brows in confusion. Suddenly her expression changed, eyes widening as realization dawned on her.

“Oh, no, no, no. Nope. I can’t.”

Adrien wasn’t hearing it. “Oh yes, yes, yes. YES! You can! This is _perfect!_ The shots will turn out even better because Jill and I had no chemistry whatsoever but we’ve known each other for _years_! And you’d be perfect for it. Come on, please.” He gave her his best puppy-dog eyes. It always worked on Mari, and he didn’t feel bad in the slightest for using it to his advantage.

“Adrien noooo. Come on, I can’t be a model. I’m not-I’m not pretty enough. I don’t look…no I can’t. It’d be humiliating and the photographer would just get frustrated because I’m not photogenic at _all_.”

Adrien snorted. “Oh please you don’t even believe any of that.” And yet, when he looked at her face, he saw she did. “Marinette. You are _beautiful_. You’re the prettiest girl I know, and you are impossible to hate. Except maybe Lila. But that doesn’t count. I mean, even _Chloe_ came around. You’re much prettier than either Jill or Rosa. And you’re perfect for this come _on_.” He gripped her hand, pulling her after him. “Nathalie! Can you call my father? I need to get his approval immediately.”

“But Adrien,” Marinette continued to protest, “the Vogue cover!”

Adrien paused at that. That would be huge exposure. But they really had no other option. He locked eyes with Marinette and she seemed to understand, taking a deep breath.

“If Gabriel approves, then fine. I’ll do it.”

Nathalie Approached, holding a tablet with the face of Gabriel Agreste staring at the pair. “Adrien what is the matter and why are your hands around my apprentice.” Adrien blushed, letting go and laughing awkwardly before clearing his throat and stepping forward.

“Three of our models, Jill, Rosaline, and Bryan, have decided to stupidly render themselves incapable of coming in today.”

Gabriel sighed, pressing his hands to the sides of his temples. “Ah yes, I was informed. What do you propose as a solution then?” 

“I believe Marinette would be a perfect replacement, plus with the years of friendship we already have, there will be more energy in the shots.” Gabriel looked down and away for a few moments before nodding.

“Yes, perfect. Miss Dupain, you are on board with this idea?”

“It is not idea, but I will do what must. We really have no other options and no time to wait for other models. I’ll have Samantha help me with altering the pieces.”

“Very well then. I will be in at noon to see how the shoot has progressed. Please ensure the staff are on a break at the time.”

“Yes Mr. Agreste.”

The call ended and Adrien turned to Marinette, a huge grin on his face. Marinette smiled softly at him, giggling and shaking her head. “This better work, Adrien. If it doesn’t…” She trailed off, the smile falling from her face.

“Hey, don’t worry, I’ll help you. You’re going to do great.” She bit her lip nervously and Adrien felt his stomach turn over as his heart did a double-beat. He was dying. Yes, he must be dying. 

She looked down, speaking so quietly he wouldn't have heard her if she weren't the only thing he could focus on.“I hope you’re right.”


	3. Melting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> MELTING- He’s melting. Under her touch, under her gaze, at the sound of her voice. He wants to melt. "Touch me. Ruin me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OMG people have actually read this and I am so happy! I know it's not a lot but it means so much so thanks for letting me know you guys like this story! I have done some art for this story, and if you'd like to see them, my tumblr is @angiesstrangelittlecorner   
Thank you guys again!   
So i think this chapter will cover up until Gabriel's visit at noon. The next chapter will be brief about the rest of the shoot, with a little flashback. We gonna see when Adrien realizes he's got a lil crushy crush. But not today. Today, we see Adrien in love. He likes to convince himself it's a tiny crush but mmmmmmmmmm kay.

Marinette didn’t want to have to deal with another issue. She _couldn’t_. So, naturally, Adrien’s suits didn’t fit. She was called over while she was halfway through her own hair and makeup.

Apparently, Rolland, who had worked under Samantha for years and was_ almost_ as good as her with a needle and thread, was having an issue with the hemlines on a fall jacket. It was one of Marinette’s favorites out of everything she’d designed with Gabriel for the menswear part of the collection. She’d done this piece on her own and Gabriel had said nothing when she showed him, only raising a brow. She knew this meant he was impressed. To see this piece fail would be…too much.

She locked eyes with Adrien, and he shrugged, eyes wide. “Are you alright?” She asked. _Please say yes. Please say yes._

“Um…yeah.” He seemed distant. Off. She wondered if he was feeling ill, not for the first time that day. “I mean no! I mean, no don’t worry about it. It’s no biggie. You have to go get ready because I’m about to start my shoot. We really don’t need you to worry. There’s nothing wrong we can’t fix _ourselves_.” He shot a glare at Rolland for calling her over. Rolland rolled his eyes.

“Girl, listen it’s not a big deal, I just wasn’t sure what you were doing with the hemlines on the sleeves. Nothing is wrong it just need you to stitch here where it’s coming undone. You only did a running stitch.” He moved to the side and Marinette allowed Loraine to clip her hair away from her makeup before she made her way to Rolland, crouching down and taking a needle from him.

“Here, I was doing a back-stitch here to keep it firm in pace, and then securing it with an invisible stitch down the middle here.” She gestured to the areas, starting in the places where he’d stopped. She handed the needle back. “Thank you for asking and not ruining my jacket.” She smiled softly, joking but also meaning it. Rolland smiled at her.

“I wouldn’t dare. You’d probably switch my closet to neon colors and sequins.” He shuddered and she laughed.

\----

It was music to his ears. He never understood, a few years ago, why in books characters would always find someone’s voice like a ‘bell’ or a ‘song’ or something. It sounded stupid. He got it now, though.

Marinette was something else. He cleared his throat awkwardly. “Marinette it’s already 7:43.” Marinette suddenly gave a weird noise he could only describe as a dying cat. It was…odd, but normal from her. She stumbled back, falling and getting tangled in a bed sheet that was to be used on set. She tried to stand but slipped again and fell into Chloe, who had just walked into the room. Chole was in the middle of saying his pet name but went down with a screech.

“Adrik-AGH! MY HAIR!”

It was silent for a count of eight. He finally couldn’t take it anymore, snorting loudly and letting out a girlish giggle, hand slapping over his mouth as he burst out laughing. “I’m sorry. That was so great.” He tried to take deep breaths, wiping his eyes. “Are you both alright?” They stood up, nodding, Chloe glaring at a sheepishly grinning Marinette.   


“Sorry Chloe. I, uh, got to go.” She giggled, waving at Adrien and running back to her Makeup station. His eyes stayed on her, a smile on his face. Someone cleared their throat and he snapped out of it.

“Oh, uh, alright guys back to work, um…tight schedule.” A few people chuckled and some of the girls giggled but he ignored it, blushing as Rolland kept working on the jacket.

\-----

Marinette always had a slim figure, but in recent years, she gained curves witch she’d never really mined until this very day. She was a baker’s daughter after all, how was she supposed to stay as flat as a board? Safe to say, Marinette didn’t exactly have a ‘model’ figure. Jill was normally a size 0, but luckily for them, she’d been around a 2 on the day of fittings. Still, Marinette was a 4, and alterations hadn’t been east since Jill was practically absent of curves, and while Marinette didn’t have Alya’s body, she did still have enough curves that she always had to adjust the waist on her jeans after she bought them.

Marinette was also almost 5’8”, though not quite, and Jill was just over 6’0”. It had taken them thirty minutes to resize each piece to Marinette’s height, and then another twenty in touch-ups afterwards before she could be photographed in them.

Marinette took a quick glance at her cell as they finished up. The time read 8:43. She swore under her breath and Samantha gave her a look that said she understood. They had only so much time until Gabriel would be there, and he would be expecting results.

“Sammie, are we almost done?” Sammie took one last pin from the dress and stood, brightening.

“Yep! We’re all good. Go get em, little lady.” She took the younger girls’ hands as Marinette worried at her lip. “Hey, you’ll do wonderfully. Don’t worry about it. Just focus on the dress, a tree, or Adrien. Pretend like the camera isn’t even there. It’s just you out there, or you and him. Whatever you’re doing, the only thing that exists is what’s in front of the camera. No one else, nothing else, matters.”

Marinette smiled gratefully at Samantha. “Thank you.” She said quietly. She heard her name being called and gathered up her skirts, rushing out, just as the warehouse garage door opened and she gasped.

“Oh. It’s beautiful.” She couldn’t take her eyes off the view. The most beautiful view of Paris was before her eyes. It was glamorous and quiet in the morning sunlight. Her skirts fell from her hands and she walked out to the stone courtyard, in awe. When Gabriel said this would be the perfect place to shoot at, she’d been confused. Why a warehouse so far away? It was nothing special whatsoever. But, now, she understood.

It was absolutely perfect. It was unfair. She couldn’t possibly do it justice.

\---

She was absolutely perfect. It was unfair. The view, as beautiful as it was, couldn’t do her justice. It was still a close second though.

Adrien was angry at himself. He’d finally been so happy, these last few years, with Marinette there as such an incredible friend, and here he was, inevitably going to screw it up because he had a small, teeny, tiny crush on her.

Well, it wasn’t that small, but he wasn’t exactly sure how far he was in when it came to his feelings for Marinette.

She was blissfully unaware of the camera crew that silently followed her as she stepped into the sunlight, or the eyes that followed her. You could hear a pin drop. Everyone held their breath. If Marinette did well, there wasn’t any issue. If she didn’t... well, they were screwed.

Adrien had no doubt she’d do great. She looked like an Angel. She was so beautiful. Adrien felt an incredible urge to run up to her, run his hands through her hair, cup the back of her neck, stroke the sides of her face with his thumb as he’d lean in…

He gulped, breaking his gaze away from Marinette, and accidentally locking eyes with Alya. She was _laughing_ at him. He narrowed his eyes _ha-ha yeah very funny Adrien has a crush whoop dee doo. _Adrien didn’t find it very funny, but it was nice to know someone got a kick out of his suffering.

Marinette turned at that point, blushing as she realized everyone was watching her. She wore no lipstick, yet her lips were a beautiful red, brought out by the red of her dress. Along with the more practical pieces, Gabriel liked to have an extravagant, over-the-top piece for both the men and women collections. This time, they were characters straight out of pride and prejudice. He was Mr. Darcy and she was Elizabeth Bennett.

The camera kept firing off as she blushed shyly, then coming to her senses and looking sideways into the lens mischievously. Adrien thought he might die. Everyone else seemed to let off a sigh of relief. She was already doing amazing.

_Incredible. _

His heart threatened to burst from his chest as she smiled brightly at him, extending a hand. “Adrien. Care to join me?”

He more than cared to, and rushed up to meet her, taking her hand and planting a kiss. The photographer, Charles, seemed on the verge of tears. “Oh, she’s a natural. She’s on fire. She’s a _QUEEN_. Yes, more of this! You are Ladybug and Chat Noir, you are a pair of young lovers, YES. Kiss her hand and…WONDERFUL!” She turned her hand over softly, so she was lightly cupping his chin and under his jaw. She guided him up and, as they came to eye level, smiled so brilliantly he thought he might die.

He turned to Alya. “Could you put on some music? Maybe something…classical.” Alya was still laughing at him with her eyes, but nodded with a smile, putting on a beautiful song he was sure he’d heard in a movie somewhere. He bowed to Marinette, extending a hand. “Care to dance, my lady?”

Her eyes sparkled and she giggled. “Of course.”

And they danced. Charles cried in delight as, for the next three minutes, they danced, posed, and laughed. At the end of the song, Charles called for an outfit change. Marinette smiled in relief.

“Phew! Thank gosh! I was melting in this heat!” And he couldn't help but feeling as if he was melting, but not from the heat. It was her eyes. Those beautiful blue eyes. He was melting under her gaze. He was crumbling under her touch. He was falling apart at her feet, and he couldn't help but think that he wanted more. He wanted to be destroyed by her, ruined by her. Even if he couldn't have this last, he wanted all of Marinette he could have. He wanted...

Adrien nodded and gave her a weak smile, running off to change faster than necessary. He was frightened by his own thoughts. Was this really just a crush? 


	4. Cupcakes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> CUPCAKES- She’s sweet. Irresistible. He can’t keep his eyes off her, but he knows he shouldn’t touch. He can’t stop himself. "Please. I need-"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> omg i'm so sorry i took so long to post this. I didn't have my laptop on vacation. on a more positive note, OMG NEW EPISODE TOMORROWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW AJDASKJNKJASDKJASDAKJDJSAKDSANH YES LETS GOOOOOOOOO.
> 
> more angst this chapter, lemme know if i should dial it down bc idk how.  
this one is really long bc i didn't know where to stop. AJDJHSJKHkh almost 5 full pages on word meow-ch

As Marinette changed out of the last piece she’d modeled, Adrien distracted himself on his phone. Everyone was preparing for the arrival of his father in fifteen minutes, though Adrien knew his father would arrive a few minutes late or early depending on the situation. He liked to see how things were running before people were ready, but he also liked to keep people waiting so he would be on everyone’s mind. Gabriel practically invented power moves, and he left everyone in fear and in awe. He had to admit, his father was impressive, if you ignored his inability to be comfortable with giving fatherly love.

People were running around frantically like ants, always doing something, going somewhere. People were shouting out orders and everyone was uber-focused on making it perfect for Gabriel Agreste. Marinette had been forced to go change when she wouldn’t stop working, and Adrien was glad she would be able to take some sort of a break before his father came. She needed it. She was doing incredibly, and he hadn’t had this much fun at a photo shoot _ever_, but he could tell she was getting exhausted, and they still had eleven more hours to go, or even more if they fell behind schedule.

Adrien smiled wistfully in the direction of Marinette’s change room before shaking his head and burying his head in his phone. _Focus on something that’s _not_ Marinette. Distract yourself. _His father was coming, and Adrien could _not_ be making lovey-dovey eyes at Gabriel’s apprentice. He wouldn’t have to suffer so much as Marinette, who could lose her job, and then he’d probably never see him again and he couldn’t bear that.

Adrien opened Instagram to a new post from Gabriel™. A photo of Marinette from this morning in a Gabriel™ dress laughed at him. S He knew it was a teaser for the collection, and of course the social media crew chose that one to post. For one, she looked jaw-dropping, heart-stopping, enchantingly beautiful. For another, the crew always liked to tease Adrien about the crush they thought he had on her, a piece of information he didn’t know was true until last week.

_It was dreadful outside, but judging from the smile on Adrien’s face, one may be inclined to believe cotton candy was falling from the sky and the skies were a beautiful blue. Outside, rain bore down on the city of Paris. It pelted the umbrellas as employees tried to close them, some laughing, some scowling, all drenched and drowning in their shoes. Marinette was sketching the scene, a small smile appearing on her lips as a teenage boy their age teased his co-worker and she shrieked, her auburn hair dark with water and plastered to her face. The two were laughing loudly as they chased each other around, splashing in the puddles and blushing. Another co-worker rolled her eyes and barked an order, and the two grinned at the other as they returned to their assigned task. _

_She returned her attention to Adrien as she finished her sketch but didn’t comment on it. She was grateful. She wanted to draw to relax, not to hear everyone’s input, as rude as that seemed. She wasn’t sure how to explain it, but Adrien understood that she felt uncomfortable, and let her draw in peace. _

_They often met up at the café. Sometimes twice a week, but usually at least once a week. Sometimes, Alya, Nino, Chloe, or any of their friends would join them, but Marinette and Adrien’s schedules lined up more than the others’, so it was often the two of them. It was never a problem for either of them. Over time, Adrien enjoyed being around Marinette more and more as she became more comfortable around him. Her stutter left, and as the years went on, he discovered she was _very_ sarcastic. They would joke back and forth- she didn’t like his puns, it turned out, not that it stopped him (if Ladybug couldn’t stop him then neither could Marinette) and over time she became mostly immune to his jokes. She found them funny, yes, but she was making him work for a reaction and he loved it. It was harder to get a laugh out of her, around others she relaxed, but when it was just the two of them- that was when Adrien had the best time. _

_He’d heard her laugh, her _real_ laugh, many times. So, it shouldn’t have been different this time, when he made a comment, not even trying to get her to laugh, and she snorted, choking on her hot chocolate mid-sip. She recovered, laughing loudly. It earned her a few glared and odd looks, but she didn’t mind. _

_Adrien looked up at the sound of her laugh as it died down to a soft giggle- an odd twist exploding in his gut like a flock of akuma- and froze. She bit into a cupcake, crumbs sticking to her lips. She didn’t lick it away at first and he kept staring at it, wishing he were those crumbs. Then she looked at him, and he was gone. His breath caught at the back of his throat and he couldn’t breathe. His heart beat so hard he could _feel _it. Like it was trying to break through his chest and run to her. He found himself breathing again, but as if he’d just sprinted the entire marathon rather than pacing himself. The sun had begun to break the grey clouds and shone over her, illuminating her like an angel. She was beautiful. She was gorgeous. She was the only thing in the world._

_As if he’d been struck with Cupid’s Arrow, Adrien knew he was in love as the fact slapped him across the face and left him speechless. He suddenly realized he’d been harboring a crush this whole time, and even his crush for ladybug- that had been love, but even that had been nothing compared to this. This was new, and scary. Adrien suddenly understood his thoughts for the last few months, years even. He suddenly understood why she was often the last face he saw before he closed his eyes. Why he always found himself going out of his way for her in a way he couldn’t bring himself to do for others. He would do anything for any of his friends, and usually he had to, as Chat Noir. But he would do _everything _for Marinette. He would do more than he ever should, would, or could. He suddenly understood why he felt as if he was lying- to himself and everyone- for so long. He couldn’t count the number of times he’d said she was “just a friend”. He understood everything all at once- his jealously when she’d dated Luka (he thought he was just looking out for Marinette though he had no reason to, Luka was a great guy), his selfish joy when she’d broken up with Luka… _

_He understood everything. His head swirled and he felt dizzy. It was all too much suddenly._

_“Adrien? Are you alright? You look like you’re going to throw up. Please don’t throw up.” Marinette was leaning across the table now, gazing into his eyes with her beautiful, mesmerizing blue ones. _Shoot. Shoot, shoot, shoot. _A strand of hair fell in front of her eyes. He wanted to brush it away, but Marinette took his hand in her left and used her right to touch his forehead. “You _are_ warm, but I don’t think you have a fever. Let’s get you home, okay? I don’t think your father would still want me working for him if I’d somehow managed to get his son sick the week before the new collection. Come on.” _

_She grabbed his hand and took him outside, where the rain was still coming down, the sun hidden once more behind the clouds. She opened the umbrella she’d brought, and he noted subconsciously that it was the same one he’d given her when they first met, at 14. His mothers’ umbrella. His heart swelled and he looked at her. He forced himself to form words. _

_“That’s the- that’s – that’s my mothers’ umbrella.” He fumbled, heart rate not settling but becoming more familiar as time passed and he found himself able to, at the very least, act as if he weren’t so completely ruined by and in love with her. He cleared his throat. “That’s my mother’s. You still have it.” He said, stupidly. _

_“Of course, I still- hold on, this is your_ Mothers’_? Adrien why didn’t you tell me? I would have returned it.” He smiled, pressing a finger to her lips. _

_“I’m so glad it’s yours. She would have loved you. She would be proud of my giving it away to a girl like you.” He smiled and she bit her lip. _

_“I feel bad.” _

_“Nonsense. It’s a gift.” _

_“It’s your mothers’._

_“Was. Was my mothers’. She would have wanted a beautiful and sweet girl to have it, and now a beautiful and sweet girl does have it. Keep it, Marinette. You’ve already had it so long. Thank you for keeping it together and treating it with care, thought. That’s very…Marinette of you.” _

_She giggled. “I _am _Marinette, dork.”_

The sound of clapping broke through his thoughts. His eyes refocused to find Alya in front of him. “Hey, Goldilocks. You in there?”

He blinked, shaking his head. He’d failed to keep himself from thinking about Marinette. He hadn’t even moved onto another subject. He groaned, dropping his head into his hands. “Alya I can’t take it anymore. What is wrong with me.”

She raised a brow. “What’s this?” He peaked an eye to look at her between two fingers.

“Nino hasn’t told you?” Nino wasn’t great at keeping secrets, but when he’d arrived home, Adrien needed to talk to someone, and Nino was his best friend. Adrien made a mental note to give Nino some pastries as a thank you for not telling Alya, or Marinette.

“Nino hasn’t told me _what_?” She narrowed her eyes dangerously.

“About my…” He looked around, no one appeared to be listening, but he whispered anyways, “about my…crush.” Her eyes lit up with excitement.

“_Oh mon dieu_, YES!” She cried, he looked around, frantically trying to quiet her. She leaned closer to him again and lowered her voice, grinning ear to ear. “It’s Mari, isn’t it.”

He blushed and his heart sped up at her name. _Relax Adrien. You’re nervous, and for good reason. This is ALYA_. She squealed, his blush enough of an answer. “Alya it’s awful. It’s so scary, I’ve never-”

“Are you guys ready? Gabriel will be here any moment now.” Marinette emerged from the dressing room, hair up in a bun, a few strands out of place. She was running towards Adrien and she was dressed in pink shorts and a loose white silk chiffon tee with an off-white collar. It accented her curves as it gathered at her waist, giving clear indication of her thin waist underneath. She wore heels, which she usually didn’t wear but he supposed she was wearing for the dress code. A pincushion was strapped to her wrist and her self-made pink tool belt held her notebook, pencils and pens, and various spools of tread, safety pins, and swatches. She was stunning. “I had to do some alterations of a few more pieces, but I hope Gabriel doesn’t mind that I’m not wearing my best.”

Adrien swallowed, offering a smile that felt a little fake. “I’m sure he won’t mind; you look great in everything.” Mari smiled sweetly at him, a slight blush gracing her cheeks.

“Thank you, Adrien.” Alya grinned and opened her mouth to comment but was cut off by commotion and a warning yell.

“CAR!” The trio spun to the front. The entire warehouse fell silent. Forty-seven seconds passed. “It’s HIM! EVERYONE, PLACES! DON’T LOOK BUSY, _BE_ BUSY!” Everyone sprinted off to their stations and Alya apologized before making herself scarce. Marinette blanched.

Adrien furrowed his brow at her. “Are you alright?” She looked white as a ghost.

“Nervous. This is a big deal. If I mess this up…” She didn’t have time to finish her thought because Gabriel walked through the doors, held by staff- Nathalie and Gorilla behind the designer. Marinette and Adrien stood straight, smiling and waving. Adrien let Marinette greet.

“Bonjour, Monsieur Agreste. Are you ready for your tour?” He nodded at her as she smiled at him cheerfully.

“Brief me as we go, Adrien join us and offer any information you can give about the day.” He gestured for her to take the lead. “Shall we?”

Marinette nodded and began the tour. When his father wasn’t looking, Adrien grabbed her hand and offered a squeeze, a sign he’d be there, right next to her, the whole time. She would do great, and didn’t even need him, but he’d be there anyways, if she needed him.

\-------

“I must say, Mademoiselle Marinette, you do have a talent for modeling. These pictures are lovely. I wish I had pursued the idea of getting Adrien to model with a friend before, these are probably some of the best photos hes ever taken.” He nods to his son, and Adrien even sees the hint of a smile. His heart swells with happiness. “Well done, Adrien.” 

Adrien beams and it's all he can do not to wrap his father in a massive hug. Marinette looks at him, a smirk growing on her features. She can't help herself and her hand comes up to his shoulder. 

They lock eyes and Gabriel watches, confused as Adrien turns to her, eyes wide and happy, and her expression changes to one of happiness, peace, and...

_Love. _Gabriel is sure at that very moment that his son and this girl are in love, and he's known about his son's feelings for a very long time, but the Dupain-Cheng girl, well, he's never seen it written so plainly on her face, though he had his suspicions. He feels almost as if he shouldn't be there, as if this is a private moment that belongs only to the two of them, and he should leave and let them be. Gabriel never appreciated being told to leave. He cleared his throat and the two sprung apart, blushing. Adrien looked horrified. _Ah, so he knows now. Good boy. _

Gabriel couldn't help the smirk on his face. "You've done an excellent job, Marinette. And Adrien. You may take your lunch break for an hour and a half, until Vogue arrives. I want the two of you on the cover. _Together_." 

Marinette almost fainted. 


End file.
